Beijing / Vilnius, November 21, LETA – AFP. China on Sunday downgraded diplomatic relations with Lithuania in protest at the opening of a Taiwanese mission with the name “Taiwan” in Vilnius.
In the future, China’s interests in Lithuania will be represented not by the ambassador, but by a lower-ranking diplomat – the authorized clerk, said the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The Chinese government had to lower the level of diplomatic relations between the two countries (…) in order to guarantee its sovereignty and the basic norms of international relations,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It emphasizes that “of all the consequences of this [Pekinas lēmums], must be answered by the Lithuanian Government “.
The statement also said that Lithuania had “abandoned the political commitments it made in establishing diplomatic relations” with Beijing.
In turn, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regretted China’s decision to lower the level of diplomatic relations.
“Lithuania reaffirms its” one China “policy, but at the same time has the right to expand cooperation with Taiwan,” the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It has already been reported that the Taiwanese mission opened in Vilnius on Thursday. The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has emphasized that it does not have diplomatic status.
Lithuania’s decision to allow Taiwan to form a mission using the word “Taiwan” in its name has angered Beijing because it is trying to prevent any attempt by Taiwan to act as an independent state. Elsewhere in the world, such representations use the name “Taipei” as Taiwan’s capital, in line with Beijing’s “one China” policy, which does not allow Taiwan to be considered a separate country.
In May, Lithuania announced that it was withdrawing from the 17 + 1 format for economic and political cooperation, which is important for China and involves mainly Central and Eastern European countries, as it considers it divisive.
The intention to open a Taiwanese representation in Lithuania was announced in July.
China recalled its ambassador to Vilnius in August, citing Lithuania’s stance on Taiwan, and demanded the recall of the Lithuanian ambassador to Beijing. Lithuanian Ambassador to China Diāna Mickevičiene returned to Lithuania for consultations in early September.
Freight train services from China to Lithuania have also been suspended, and Beijing is no longer issuing permits for Lithuanian food exports to China.
Taiwan and mainland China have been governed separately since the island’s nationalist government, defeated in the Civil War in 1949, and the communist-occupied People’s Republic of China, which considers Taiwan to be part of its territory.
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